DFAU vs WBIL

DFAUADimensional US Core Equity Market ETF

WBILDWBI BullBear Quality 3000 ETF

In short

DFAU Active management priced like an index fund. Dimensional spreads across roughly 2,400 US stocks, then tilts the weights toward value, profitability and momentum instead of simply mirroring the Russell 3000.

WBIL Most equity funds ride the drop out. WBIL is built to sell into it: nightly quality screens pick the names, a tightening trailing stop decides when they go, and cash counts as a position. An active, risk-managed spin on the Russell 3000 universe, priced accordingly.

Stated mandate

DFAU Seeks long-term capital appreciation. It uses an integrated research, portfolio-design, management, and trading process to build a broadly diversified portfolio of U.S. companies while balancing long-term return drivers, risk, shorter-term considerations, and trading costs.

WBIL The Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation and potential current income while also seeking to protect principal during unfavorable market conditions.

Why people hold it

• DFAU Charges 0.12% a year, well under the 0.65% median for active US equity funds and the cheapest of the top-graded names in its group (AVLC, DFAC, FELC).
• Holds roughly 2,400 US companies, so no single name steers the fund. Whole-market coverage, not a concentrated bet.
• Active without the stock-picking drama: it leans weights toward value, profitability and momentum, using the Russell 3000 as its reference point rather than a rigid rulebook.
• A multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, and one of the strongest overall implementations in its active US equity peer group.

• WBIL Stock picks come from nightly screens for quality fundamentals, reasonable value, positive revenue and earnings trends, and price momentum, not index weights.wbietfs.comwbietfs.com 2
• Every holding gets a price goal and a stop allowance at purchase. The stop tightens as the stock climbs; if it is hit, the position is sold.wbietfs.com
• Cash is a deliberate output. When the trend models flag risk, the process builds cash instead of staying fully invested.wbietfs.com
• Running since 2014, from a manager that has used trend models for decades, so the discipline has been through real bear markets.wbishares.com

Worth knowing

• DFAU Those tilts cut both ways: results can drift from a plain Russell 3000 fund for long stretches, in either direction.
• No published index behind it. The trade-off for flexibility is that you're buying Dimensional's process, not a public set of rules you can check line by line.
• Distributions land quarterly, not monthly, and the mandate is long-term capital appreciation rather than income.

• WBIL At 1.45% a year, this is a premium price tag. Core active rivals like DFAU and FELC charge a small fraction of that.
• Small asset base and light trading volume mean wider spreads and more price impact on large orders than a mainstream core fund.
• Selling into weakness cuts both ways: stops can exit just before a rebound, and turnover runs high. Payouts come annually or semiannually, not quarterly.wbietfs.com

Full DFAU profile⁠

Full WBIL profile⁠